Shire of Melton Heritage Study – Volume 4
Other Names of Place:
Location:
Critical Dates:
None
2 Exford Road, Melton South
Originally constructed c.1929-1930; Relocated and rebuilt on current site: 1939-1940.
Existing Heritage Listings: None
Recommended Level of Significance: LOCAL
Statement of Significance:
The house at 2 Exford Road, Melton South, has significance as intact example of an interwar
Bungalow style. The house was originally built in Diggers Rest c.1929, and moved to its present location c.1939-40.
The house at 2 Exford Road is architecturally significant at a LOCAL level (AHC D.2, E.1). It demonstrates original design qualities of an interwar Bungalow style. These qualities include the hipped roof form that traverses the site, together with gable roof forms that project at the front and side (towards the rear) that are linked by the flat roofed porch. Other intact or appropriate qualities include the asymmetrical composition, single storey height, unpainted galvanised corrugated steel roof cladding, horizontal timber weatherboard wall cladding, face brick chimney with a soldier course top, wide eaves, timber brackets supporting the projecting gable ends, projecting flat roofed faceted bay windows under the projecting gables, timber framed double hung windows, face brick corner porch pier and the timber shingling, small timber brackets and oval timber ventilation openings in the gable ends.
The house at 2 Exford Road is historically significant at a LOCAL level (AHC B2, H1) for its association with the Robinson Brothers chaff mills in both Diggers Rest and Melton South. It is a rare surviving place directly associated with the highly important hay and chaff industries in the region, Melton chaff being regarded as the best in Australia. As all of the chaff mills having since burnt down this is the perhaps the only remaining building associated with the industry in the Shire.
Overall, the house at 2 Exford Road is of LOCAL significance.
Description:
The house at 2 Exford Road, Melton South, has a grassed frontage punctuated by mature trees and some perimeter flower beds. There is a concrete driveway along the side that leads to a rear garage that has a hipped roof form clad in galvanised corrugated steel. The garage appears to have been built at the same time as the house, and has horizontal timber weatherboard wall cladding.
The asymmetrical, single storey, horizontal timber weatherboard, interwar Bungalow styled house is characterised by a hipped roof form that traverses the site, together with gable roof forms that project at the front and side (towards the rear) that are linked by a flat roofed porch.
These roof forms are clad in unpainted galvanised corrugated steel. An early face brick
Consultants: David Moloney, David Rowe, Pamela Jellie (2006)

Shire of Melton Heritage Study – Volume 4 chimney with a soldier course top adorns the roofline. Wide overhangs are features of the eaves, as are the timber brackets that support the projecting gable ends.
Early features of the design include the projecting flat roofed faceted bay windows under the projecting gables. These bays have timber framed double hung windows. There are also other early timber framed double hung windows elsewhere on the building. Another feature is the face brick corner pier that supports the flat roofed porch, near the front of the house.
Other early features include the timber shingling, small timber brackets and oval timber ventilation openings in the gable ends.
The house is located on the east side of Exford Road, on the south-east corner of Creek Street, near the railway line.
History:
The land upon which 2 Exford Road is built was purchased by G. Jongebloed senior at the
Exford estate sub-division sale of 1907, and used as a grazing paddock.
In 1938 the Diggers Rest Chaff Mill burnt down. A weatherboard residence believed to have been built in 1929-30 for the manager of the Diggers Rest mill, survived.
1 The mill owners,
Robinson Bros., 2 decided not to rebuild the Diggers Rest mill, but instead to move the mill manager’s house across to the company’s operations at Melton South. In late 1939 - early 1940 the house was moved and re-erected at No.2 Exford Road, which by this time was single suburban allotment.
3
Former Diggers Rest mill manager Doug Robinson then moved his family into 2 Exford Road.
The Robinson family occupied the building until R.Bruce Knox and his new wife took up residence of the property in 1949.
4 (At about the same time the house at No 4 Exford Road, now occupied by Mrs Mary Cooper, was moved onto its site.) Since 1973 a number of owners and tenants have occupied the house.
5
Thematic Context / Comparative Analysis:
Shire of Melton Historical Themes : ‘Community’; ‘Other Industries (Chaff Mills)’
Comparable Places in Shire of Melton:
Architecturally, the house at 2 Exford Road, Melton is possibly the most intact example of an interwar Bungalow style in the Melton Shire. Other comparable examples are composed of an interwar homestead Bungalow style, with Federation roof forms and verandahs. These examples include:
1 It is not possible to confirm this date from the Shire of Melton Ratebooks. For the period 1926 –
1934 the rate notices only reads ‘Schutt, Barrie and Robinson, merchants, owners’, the description of the property is given as ‘chaff mills, etc’. The NAV remains unchanged at £100 during this period.
2
Sands & McDougall Directories, 1925-1930.
3 Personal conversation, Judith Bilszta with Ben Davis, September 2005. (Mr Davis was living at
Diggers Rest, and commuting to Melbourne from Diggers Rest station during this period. He has very clear memories of both the fire and moving the house.)
4
Mrs Beryl Knox, personal conversation, 6 th November 2005
5 Personal conversations, Judith Bilszta with Mrs Zelma Nesbitt (8/7/2005), and Janice Dyke (9/7/2005,
13/7/2005).
Consultants: David Moloney, David Rowe, Pamela Jellie (2006)

Shire of Melton Heritage Study – Volume 4
 House, 1229 Gisborne-Melton Road, Toolern Vale (Place Id. 29). This dwelling has the familiar broad and steeply pitched roof form, projecting minor gable and front verandah. Other interwar design qualities include the broad eaves with exposed timber rafters, timber framed double hung windows arranged in pairs, rudimentary gable infill and the face brick chimney with streamlined capping.
 House, 847 Blackhill Road, Diggers Rest (Place Id. 62). This dwelling has a familiar broad main roof form and encircling verandah, but the main roof is gambrel in form and the minor projecting roof is a gable. The broad homestead-like nature of the composition of roof and verandah, timber framed double hung windows, gable end and the rudimentary design of the face brick chimney are familiar interwar homestead style features.
 Melton Stud, Clarke’s Road, Melton South (Place Id. 183). A modest dwelling, the broad hipped roof extends to form a verandah at the front. The timber framed windows, and construction of the roof and walls are also similar and overall, the dwelling reflects a familiar interwar homestead design quality.
 House, McCorkells Road, Toolern Vale (Place Id. 44). This house has a
Federation/Edwardian composition of broad hipped roof form with projecting minor roofs and encircling verandah, although the minor roofs are gable in form. The comparable interwar design qualities include the broad eaves with exposed timber rafters, timber framed double hung windows, timber framed doorway and timber and glazed door, rudimentary timber verandah construction and the face brick chimney with a soldier course capping.
 Plumpton Park, 412 Plumpton Road, Diggers Rest (Place Id. 152). This dwelling, while rudimentary in overall appearance, has a broad hipped roof form and broken back encircling verandah, with a projecting minor hipped roof. The usual interwar features are present including the broad eaves with exposed timber rafters, timber framed double hung windows, galvanised corrugated steel roof cladding and horizontal timber weatherboard wall cladding.
Condition:
Good
Integrity:
Substantially intact
Recommendations:
Recommended for inclusion in the Melton Planning Scheme Heritage Overlay .
Recommended Heritage Overlay Schedule Controls:
External Paint Controls:
Internal Alteration Controls:
No
No
No
No
Tree Controls:
Outbuildings and/or Fences:
Consultants: David Moloney, David Rowe, Pamela Jellie (2006)